The Athletics announced Monday that the playing surface at Oakland Coliseum will be renamed in honor of Rickey Henderson, "the greatest Athletic of all time."
Rickey Henderson Field will be dedicated in a pregame ceremony before the team's April 3 opener against the Los Angeles Angels.
Announced: A's will name the Coliseum field "Rickey Henderson Field." Henderson will also serve as a Special Assistant to the President. pic.twitter.com/wVPx6n8SVT
— Oakland A's 🌳🐘⚾️ (@Athletics) February 6, 2017
The A's said Henderson also will serve as a special assistant to team president Dave Kaval this season.
"Rickey Henderson is the greatest Athletic of all time. It is fitting we honor and recognize his impact on our franchise by naming our playing field after him," Kaval said in a statement. "In addition to his current role on our baseball development staff, I am also excited he will be joining us in the front office to serve as a representative of Green and Gold baseball."
Henderson is the Athletics' all-time leader in runs scored (1,270), walks (1,227) and stolen bases (867). He set the modern-era record for stolen bases in a season in 1982, when he stole 130 for the A's.
He was named the American League Championship Series MVP in 1989, when he .400 with two home runs, five RBIs, eight stolen bases and eight runs scored to help the A's beat the Toronto Blue Jays in five games. The A's went on to win the World Series that season with a sweep of the San Francisco Giants. Henderson hit .474 in those four games.
He won an American League MVP award in 1990, when he hit .325 with 28 home runs, 61 RBIs, 119 runs scored and 65 stolen bases for an Oakland team that won the American League pennant but was swept by the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series.
"This is an incredible honor and I am humbled that the field I have so many incredible memories on is now named after me," Henderson said in the statement. "I love this organization and our fans and look forward to contributing to our success for many years to come."
Henderson, 58, was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.
